California Work Trip - Part I

Every January I am a part of a meeting that includes 15 of our supervisors who are located all over the country. Despite our normal objective of holding our meeting somewhere warm, we had planned to go to Pittsburgh this year instead. As soon as I found out, I was already bracing myself for the frigid temps and the potential for logistical issues because of snow.

I was in shock come mid-December when we found out that our group was invited to bolt on our meeting to another meeting happening around the same time in Palm Desert, CA. Our travel would be covered and we'd get almost a week in sunny California. It seemed too good to be true, but it wasn't!

A few short weeks after the plans were made, I had just recovered from Christmas break and was on my way out to L.A. In order to get a direct flight, I flew from Dulles to Los Angeles. This ended up being a great move all around because I got to see a little of L.A. on the front end of the trip and the drive over to Palm Desert was beautiful.

A little time on Hollywood Blvd...

 

 

Although it was quite far away, I was thrilled to see the infamous Hollywood sign and grab a quick picture.

After the couple hour detour in Hollywood, we headed east towards Palm Desert to get there in time for the kickoff reception that evening.

What a beautiful drive!

Even though I did not have a prime room on the rear side of the hotel, my front-facing room still had a pretty spectacular view.

Because the meeting on the front end wasn't as relevant for me, I was granted some time off in the afternoon on the first day. I felt a little guilty knowing that all of the guys were indoors in meetings while I was enjoying this... (of course, the guilt quickly disappeared!)

That evening was the National Championship College Football game. Our group all watched the game together in a nice suite at the hotel. It was an even more intense and interesting game to watch because one of my co-workers played football for Ohio State back in his college days.  

A few photos around the resort I snapped during breaks from our meetings. The pool and landscape were oh-so-tempting!

A group shot at the end of our meeting with a spectacular backdrop!

While most everyone above works out of different offices all over the U.S., I spend at least a couple hours on the phone weekly with these folks. It was nice to meet in person for a change!

More to come on some of my free time after the meeting...

Cold Beach Getaway

I was thankful to manage a long weekend getaway to Nags Head the weekend before Thanksgiving. It came at the perfect time. Resting was much needed and it was such a treat to get a break from my normal routines and constantly running around. I believe I slept for at least 50% (or more) of the time I was there! After at least 9 hours of sleep each night, I would wake up and eat breakfast and then immediately take a nap for another 2 hours. The remaining time was spent cooking/eating, watching movies, and playing around with my camera and photos.

While it's a little hard to be at the beach when it's cold, I also appreciated the fact that I was forced to stay inside (because of my aversion to the cold). Fortunately, the house was right on the beach so I could enjoy the water view while staying warm on the couch.

It did warm up one day so that warranted getting out for a little walk on the beach. Of course, my camera is always tagged along.

Plenty of foot and vehicle traffic on the beach. Surprising for this time of the year!

The combination of sleep, sun, sand, and sea just make me happy!

New York, New York

Back in mid-October, Becca and I made a trip up to New York to visit Jenny. We had talked about doing this for months and were so excited when we were finally able to make it happen. Becca arranged babysitters and I took off from work in order to make it a 3-day weekend. We originally wanted to take the train or a bus but that just didn't work out so we ended up driving the whole way. The potentially intimidating drive wasn't bad at all and we made great time (did not stop once on the way up...unheard of for Becca who normally has 4 kids in tow). The most challenging part was trying to find parking in Brooklyn once we arrived in Jenny's neighborhood and that wasn't even all that bad.  

This was an especially fun trip to put on the calendar because Jenny is one of my close friends from college who I do not get to see very often. Even though we had not caught up in a very long time, as soon as we got there on Friday, we picked up right where we left off and it was like no time had passed. I am so thankful for friends like her but do miss not being able to see her more frequently. Back to sharing about our wonderful visit...

When we arrived, the first order of business was to pick up Jenny's little cutie pie from daycare and then take a walk a couple blocks (if that) towards the water. I could not believe this view is only a brief walk from Jenny & Andrew's place in Brooklyn. Wow!

Walking along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade

The Statue of Liberty in the far distance

That first evening, Jenny, Becca, and I walked to a close by restaurant for dinner and enjoyed some BBQ, brisket, sweet potatoes, and collards. It felt more like Texas than Brooklyn. It was easy to forget where I was that evening. After an enjoyable dinner full of girl chat, we walked back home and made sure to swing back by the park/waterfront again so that we could see the city all lit up at night. 

Another surprise about where Jenny & Andrew lived was that they had a lovely backyard/courtyard to enjoy behind their place. What a treat in NY! It was a little cool on Saturday morning but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy breakfast outside.

We headed back to the park along the water to hang out for awhile and walk around for the early afternoon before we left little L with her Dad so that the girls could enjoy a night on the town.

Basketball courts, soccer fields, and skating rinks right on the East River. What a nice place to spend some free time and have a recreation park.

A little soccer-playing sweet pea!

It was a little breezy on the soccer field!

We had every intention of walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to Manhattan but we ended up running out of time (so little time, so much to do!) so we settled for a few pictures of it and lunch on a picnic table underneath it. Jenny shared her love of Shake Shack with us and their burgers and fries did not disappoint.

On the subway headed to Manhattan to meet up with Sarah, who was venturing into the city from NJ to spend the late afternoon and evening with us.

I've been to Manhattan a handful of times but each and every time I get off the subway and appear here, it always seems so surreal. What a place to people watch and just stand and take in the sights!

As soon as we met up with Sarah, we grabbed some warm drinks and walked around Midtown for a bit. 

More sights, sounds, and smells than my senses can handle!

I wasn't so trusting of strangers in the city using my camera so we had to take turns getting pictures together.

We made a stop into St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was undergoing repairs/renovation, but it was still impressive and beautiful to see.

Where do we want to go to dinner?!

Thanks to the convenience of technology, we settled on a nice Italian restaurant nearby.

Our game plan when we planned to visit Jenny was to hopefully make it to a show. We did not have our hearts set on seeing anything in particular. Jenny, Becca, and I waited in line for discount tickets in Brooklyn on Saturday morning and decided on Les Miserables for later that evening after dinner.  

After a show that totally surpassed any of my expectations, Andy came into the city to pick up Sarah and snapped a quick picture of us (while still sitting inside his truck) so that we could have one of all 4 of us together.

It really is amazing how bright the city is with the lighted billboards. It was nearing midnight when we got out of the show but based on the volume of people still out shopping and the streets all lit up, you would easily be tricked into thinking it was early evening.

The following morning we got to experience going to church on Sunday city-style. 

Talk about a workout...

And lastly, a few photos of their charming neighborhood in Brooklyn...

It was a wonderful visit that left us wanting to already plan another soon!